"We all asked before the event and then when we saw the dust problem in SS2," he said.

"Iain [Tullie, M-Sport Ford coordinator] was the first to ask since his car [Ogier] was the first to go through in the dust and then I had the same feeling when our cars went through.

"We contacted the organizers and asked for a bigger gap."

Initially the gap was requested for SS3, but the clerk of the course only published decision three for the afternoon. The decision states: "Priority 1 crews (the factory World Rally Cars) will have a four-minute gap. All other crews will have a three-minute gap."

Lindstrom said "hopefully" the same gap will be applied for the morning stages for the rest of the weekend.

"That's when it's the most important, when there is no wind in the morning," he added.

"If there's dust, for sure boys will go [flat out] even if they can't see anything.

"It's a safety thing. We can't take the risk, it's our guys going out and that's a safety issue - but there are also spectators [and their safety]."

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This story was first published on Autosport. Read the original article here.